Gifts & Curses
by holdsmoke
Summary: Tyler spends the night with Caroline. Takes place after 3x03


It was difficult for Tyler Lockwood to comprehend all the different sides of Caroline Forbes.

He had seen her cheerful and happy, wearing that impossibly bright smile she had greeted him with so many times over the past summer. Whenever she would walk towards him with that warm look on her face it was easy for him to forget about all of the tough nights, their supernatural secret, or even what he had eaten for breakfast that morning. He had heard that bubbly giggle of hers over and over again but every time he found himself laughing along with her. He swore that Caroline's happiness was the most contagious thing on the face of the earth.

On (thankfully) rare occasions, he had witnessed her under pressure. During the rough beginning stages of their friendship he had been on the receiving end of her strength, pushed around and forced into walls. He would deny it if he was ever asked about it, but Tyler always kind of liked how easily she could overpower him (on most days during the month, anyway). Their animalistic natures worked so well together and he loved that he didn't have to hold himself back with her, emotionally and physically.

But he could recognize that her power was far more complex than just the enhanced traits that came with being a vampire. Inside her tiny frame, Caroline was filled with an enormous, unstoppable drive that almost always brought her what she wanted. Tyler had observed a fire blazing in her eyes when she argued a point or completed a task that she deemed as important. He couldn't help but stare whenever she worked hard for something, he just admired the heart that she put into things.

He had also been there when things had gone all wrong for her. He would never be able to forget the way that she had glared at him with such brutal disdain the night she had been captured by Jules and Brady. It made him shiver just to think about it, the icy cold anger dripping from every word she spat at him followed by the slamming of her front door in his face. In his memories the sound still seemed to ring like a gunshot in his ears. He had never felt so ashamed of himself.

Tyler glanced down at the blond girl lying on his chest, thankful that she had finally managed to drift off to sleep. His thumb lazily dragged back and forth over the bare skin of her shoulder, wisps of her hair tickling his chin. He had seen Caroline upset, he had seen her cry, but he had never seen her quite like she had been tonight. She was a wreck; a fragile, broken, little girl who had gone through hell and barely made it out (un)alive. His shirt was still damp from the spot where she had buried her head and cried her red-rimmed, baby-blue eyes out, and all he could do was hold her tighter in a weak attempt to protect her from all of the things that had already gotten to her.

"_What happened to me tonight, that will __**never**_ _happen again."_

The irony in her words didn't bring him any humour, it just made his stomach churn. He felt his blood start to boil when he recalled storming in on Bill Forbes' sick little torture operation. He tried his hardest not to think about the things that went on inside that concrete chamber but his active imagination ran rampant in spite of his efforts. His jaw clenched involuntarily as his mind wondered onto the things he wanted to do if he were to ever come face to face with that man again. In Tyler's opinion, Caroline's father was worthless and undeserving of being a part of her life, he just wished he could use that fancy vampire mind-trick to make Caroline feel the same way.

But there was nothing he could do to take the last couple days away from her. He helplessly accepted the fact that he couldn't dull her pain, but he swore he would take care of anything she needed. He'd be on call all hours of the day for her, ready and willing to be a pillow, a punching bag, a shoulder, or an eager ear for her. He would be there for her just like she had been there for him.

He continued to lay awake, consumed in his thoughts when he felt the resting body stir beside him. Her pale fingers gently dug themselves into the soft fabric of his t-shirt as she took a few seconds to shake herself awake, her eyelids finally fluttering open to look up at him.

"Hey," he said quietly, his voice rough and groggy from the hours he'd spent with her in silence.

Caroline did her best to offer him a smile, but he thought it just made her look more sad. "You're still here," her voice was painfully cracked from her crying breakdown but he could still pick out the hint of relief in her tone.

"Well, not everybody sneaks out on someone after they've just slept with them," he teased, grateful to see the corner of her lips twitch upward. He missed the sound of her laugh, he wanted so badly to hear it break up the heavy tension hanging in the air around them.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, almost pleadingly, breaking their eye contact to snuggle up closer to him. She tightened her grip on his shirt.

"Caroline, don't be, it doesn't matter," he replied desperately, "I'm just glad that you're okay."

Silence fell over them, but the way that her breathing picked and grew ragged was enough to tell him that she wasn't okay at all. Once again he wrapped his arms tightly around her and cooed into her ear the way he'd waken up so many times after a full moon to find her doing for him. A new set of warm tears splashed across his neck, only quieter this time, her exhaustion present in the silent sobs slowly wracking her body.

"Care, you don't need him," Tyler spoke softly into her ear, one of his hands moving to stroke her hair. He intended for it to be comforting, but he cursed as she began to shake harder, further hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

"You're incredible, Caroline, the most incredible person I know," he soothed, pausing to gather his thoughts before continuing. "You've done so much for me, helped me through things I swore I wouldn't make it through… I don't know where I would be without you."

She pulled away from him slightly, resting her head on the pillow so that she could look at him as he spoke. Her tears stopped and her eyes hardened as she glanced into his, trying to figure out what he was getting at.

"Those things don't make you human… they make you better than that. You risked a lot to be there for me, a lot more than any regular person would have. And if he can't see that you're more amazing now than you've ever been, then he doesn't deserve to know you, Care." He exhaled slowly and tried to identify the expressions that flashed across her face.

"He said," she paused to clear her throat, but her voice still cracked and wavered, "he said it was because he loves me."

"Nice way of showing it," Tyler bit back, harsher than he would have liked to. He took another moment to pull himself back under control before carrying on in a gentler tone, "If he can't love what you are, then what does it matter?"

She swallowed down the lump forming in her throat and looked away from him. The quiver in her lip returned so he shifted towards her and brought a hand up to stroke the side of her face. She dragged her eyes up to meet his warm, brown ones again.

"Look Caroline, you've got all of these people who know what you are and you still mean everything to them. Your friends love you, your mom loves you, I…" the words sat on the back of his tongue but his throat seemed to close up, he couldn't peel his eyes away from hers.

"Tyler…" Caroline breathlessly whispered, her eyes widening.

He didn't understand how it happened, or when he had made the transition from his old playboy self into this new, recklessly infatuated boy, ready to drop his whole world on a dime if that's what Caroline wanted him to do. He had changed, she had been the one to change him and he knew there was no way around it, no excuses that he could make, he wasn't sure what it all meant but he was positive how he felt about her.

"I love you."

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared back at him, electricity radiating between them. Her dainty hand found it's way to his neck and she let her eyes flutter shut as she leaned forward to lay a slow, soft kiss on his lips. He returned it, pushing into her in attempt to deepen the exchange but she resisted, keeping it gentle. Somehow she managed to convey everything he needed from her in that simple action

When she pulled away, she burrowed her tear-stained face into his chest again and closed her sore eyes, listening to the rapid beating of his heart. "Promise you'll be here when I wake up," she murmured into his red shirt.

"I promise," a relaxed smile broke out over his face and he finally allowed himself to fall asleep, his limbs tangled with hers, and a huge weight lifted from the pit of his stomach.


End file.
